delta course summary
TRANSCRIPT
8/10/2019 Delta Course Summary
http://slidepdf.com/reader/full/delta-course-summary 1/27
AAAL 2012 Annual Conference
Relating Test-taking Strategies toea ng es
Alan Urmston
Hon Kon Pol technic Universit
8/10/2019 Delta Course Summary
http://slidepdf.com/reader/full/delta-course-summary 2/27
DELTA is …
an online English language proficiency assessment system
which can
diagnose students’ strengths and weaknesses track and report on students’ language gains
help students to plan their language learning
8/10/2019 Delta Course Summary
http://slidepdf.com/reader/full/delta-course-summary 3/27
8/10/2019 Delta Course Summary
http://slidepdf.com/reader/full/delta-course-summary 4/27
‘It is common to assert that diagnostic tests arenten e to pro e t e strengt s an wea nesses o
learners, but there is virtually no description,
constructs might be that should be operationalizedin valid diagnostic tests’ (p.28).
(Alderson, 2007)
8/10/2019 Delta Course Summary
http://slidepdf.com/reader/full/delta-course-summary 5/27
Validating the DELTA:
e rea ng test
8/10/2019 Delta Course Summary
http://slidepdf.com/reader/full/delta-course-summary 6/27
Jang (2009) identifies two key issues in the
diagnostic assessment of reading comprehension:‘ e c arac er s cs o rea ng s pro es …
and the usefulness of the resulting diagnostic’ . ,
reiterated by Alderson (2007) who suggests that‘central to diagnosis must be the provision of usablefeedback either to the learners themselves or to the
diagnoser’ (p.30).
8/10/2019 Delta Course Summary
http://slidepdf.com/reader/full/delta-course-summary 7/27
The DELTA reading subskillsDrawing on taxonomies of reading subskills (Munby, 1978; Weir, 1983;
Alderson & Lukmani, 1989; Jang, 2009), knowledge of the Hong Kong tertiary-
Identifying specific information
,identified eight (8) reading subskills to be tested in the DELTA:
Interpreting a word or phrase as used by the writer
Understanding main ideas and supporting ideas
Understandin information and makin an inference
Understanding an argument made by the writer
Interpreting an attitude or intention of the writer
Identifying text type
8/10/2019 Delta Course Summary
http://slidepdf.com/reader/full/delta-course-summary 8/27
The DELTA readin com onent
consists of
four testlets (reading text + test items)
increasing difficulty level (e.g. easy, medium, difficult)
items of calibrated difficulty level (Winsteps) reading texts of the type (topic, theme, genre) that
academic and non-academic)
8/10/2019 Delta Course Summary
http://slidepdf.com/reader/full/delta-course-summary 9/27
Component Diagnostic Report: Reading
8/10/2019 Delta Course Summary
http://slidepdf.com/reader/full/delta-course-summary 10/27
‘What a test of reading tests is not simply what itsconstructors say t tests, nor w at a set o u gesconsiders it to test. It must surely and crucially relate
- ’
or she responds to an item’ (p.478).
,
8/10/2019 Delta Course Summary
http://slidepdf.com/reader/full/delta-course-summary 11/27
Test-taker stimulated recalls
Post-test interviews were conducted with 10
students who had taken the DELTA a few da spreviously.
Students were asked to describe the strategies they
had used to answer the questions. In some cases students did live think-aloud while
answering reading questions.
Strategies used were identified and coded using theco ng sc eme ev se y o en an pton 2007 .
8/10/2019 Delta Course Summary
http://slidepdf.com/reader/full/delta-course-summary 12/27
8/10/2019 Delta Course Summary
http://slidepdf.com/reader/full/delta-course-summary 13/27
Identifying specific information
S2. Annie (average ability):
I read the question and the options and then I scanned through theparagraph and I found the word 'priests'. I noticed that the firstoption has the same word and so I chose A.
.
I read the whole passage quickly and so I knew the answer should be A. It’s an easy passage so I understand very well.
S5. Bill (average ability):
I read the whole passage. I understand it easily coz the sentences are
options as I knew they don’t make sense.
8/10/2019 Delta Course Summary
http://slidepdf.com/reader/full/delta-course-summary 14/27
Common strategies for Identifying specific information
T5 Reads the question and then reads the passage/portion to look for clues to the answer,
either before or while considering options. .
T24 Selects options through elimination of other option(s) as unreasonable based on
paragraph/overall passage meaning.
R5 Reads the whole passage rapidly.
TW1 Uses the process of elimination (i.e., selecting an option even though it is not
’, .
R4 Reads the whole passage carefully.
TW3 Selects the option because it appears to have a word or phrase from the passage in it – poss y a ey wor .
R6 Reads a portion of the passage carefully.
T22 Selects o tions throu h vocabular sentence ara ra h or assa e overall meanin
(depending on item type).
8/10/2019 Delta Course Summary
http://slidepdf.com/reader/full/delta-course-summary 15/27
So, for Identifying specific information (and for
…
,and test wiseness strategies to answer the items.
So how do reading strategies translate into
rea ng s s or su s s
8/10/2019 Delta Course Summary
http://slidepdf.com/reader/full/delta-course-summary 16/27
‘Reading strategies are deliberate, goal-directed
attempts to control and modify the reader’s efforts to, ,of text. Reading skills are automatic actions that resultin decodin and com rehension with s eed efficienc
and fluency and usually occur without awareness of thecomponents or control involved’ (p.368).
Afflerbach et al (2008)
8/10/2019 Delta Course Summary
http://slidepdf.com/reader/full/delta-course-summary 17/27
Just reads from the start and
straight to the end; reading for
',
or pause. If it's something [she]
can't understand then [she'll]
stop once in a while to check
what [she’s] read.
Reads all the questions
first then reads the
relevant part of the text.
8/10/2019 Delta Course Summary
http://slidepdf.com/reader/full/delta-course-summary 18/27
DELTA Reading Text Comparison
8/10/2019 Delta Course Summary
http://slidepdf.com/reader/full/delta-course-summary 19/27
ea ng erson- em ap
More-proficient Readers
GR
Less-proficient Readers
W T
H
8/10/2019 Delta Course Summary
http://slidepdf.com/reader/full/delta-course-summary 20/27
ea ng erson- em ap
more proficient readers
what the more
can do
less proficient readers
8/10/2019 Delta Course Summary
http://slidepdf.com/reader/full/delta-course-summary 21/27
…
information to help them know what
.
8/10/2019 Delta Course Summary
http://slidepdf.com/reader/full/delta-course-summary 22/27
8/10/2019 Delta Course Summary
http://slidepdf.com/reader/full/delta-course-summary 23/27
Tentative descriptions of proficiency
Proficient readers (DELTA > 110) can:
Identify specific information in feature articles on lessfamiliar topics
Understand the main and supporting ideas in academicarticles in fields outside of their course of study
Interpret t e attitu e or intention o a writer in ictionaor biographical texts
8/10/2019 Delta Course Summary
http://slidepdf.com/reader/full/delta-course-summary 24/27
The challenge … to predict growth in our
.
200 DELTA
TRACK
160
180D
E
L
T
113118 120
125120
140
A
M
E
A
80
100S
U
R
E
60
08/2011 08/2012 08/2013 Graduation
DELTA
Measure Predicted
Measure Target
Measure
8/10/2019 Delta Course Summary
http://slidepdf.com/reader/full/delta-course-summary 25/27
8/10/2019 Delta Course Summary
http://slidepdf.com/reader/full/delta-course-summary 26/27
References, ., , . . , . . .
and Reading Strategies. The Reading Teacher, (61)5, International Reading Association
Alderson, J.C. (1990). Testing Reading Comprehension Skills (Part 2): Getting Students to Talk
‐ . , .
503.
Alderson, J.C. (2007). The Challenge of Diagnostic Testing: Do We Know What We Are
. , . , . , . , . . .
Testing
Reconsidered . Ottawa:
University
of
Ottawa
Press,
pp.
21
‐40.
Alderson, J.C. & Lukmani, Y. (1989). Cognition and Reading: Cognitive Levels as Embedded in
. , . ‐ .
Jang, E.E. (2009). Demystifying a Q ‐Matrix for Making Diagnostic Inferences about L2 Reading
Skills. Language Assessment Quarterly, (6), pp.210‐238.
,
. .
.
.
Weir, C.J. (1983 ). Identifying the language problems of overseas students in tertiary education in
the U.K. Unpublished PhD thesis, Institute of Education, University of London.
8/10/2019 Delta Course Summary
http://slidepdf.com/reader/full/delta-course-summary 27/27
_